European wrap: Atletico close gap on Real in La Liga

Atletico Madrid closed the gap on second-placed neighbours Real with a 2-1 victory at Rayo Vallecano in La Liga.

Two goals in two minutes from Nahuel Molina and Mario Hermoso put Diego Simeone's side in control, but Vallecano pulled a goal back late on through Fran Garcia despite having been reduced to 10 men when Florian Lejeune was shown a straight red card following a VAR review for bringing down Alvaro Morata.

Real Betis had Sergio Canales and Aitor Ruibal sent off as they were beaten 2-0 at home by Cadiz, while Gonzalo Melero and Srdjan Babic were on target for Almeria in their 2-1 win against Valencia.

Valladolid and Mallorca played out a 3-3 thriller, with Vedat Muriqi scoring a stoppage-time penalty to level for the visitors.

In Ligue 1, Marseille moved two points behind second-placed Lens after they were held to a goalless draw at Lorient, while Monaco, in fourth, let a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 at Nantes.

The visitors appeared to be coasting when Axel Disasi and Eliot Matazo scored within nine first-half minutes, but Mostafa Mohamed pulled one back after 65 minutes and Ludovic Blas levelled with his second goal in as many matches to earn Nantes a point.

Alexandre Lacazette was amongst the Lyon goalscorers as they recovered from an early setback to close the gap on sixth-placed opponents Rennes to three points with a 3-1 win.

A stoppage-time penalty from Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun snatched Reims a 1-1 draw at home to Brest, while three first-half goals earned Auxerre a 3-0 victory at AC Ajaccio and moved them three points clear of the relegation zone.

Elsewhere, Toulouse claimed a 2-1 win at Montpellier and Clermont ran out 2-0 winners at Troyes.

In Germany, Marcus Thuram sealed a 2-0 win for Borussia